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Kaiser Apologizes For
Burial Mix-Up

Three Infants
Mistakenly Buried Together

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Kaiser
officials in Sacramento are apologizing for a mistake involving two
families whose babies died at the Sacramento medical center.

It happened about two weeks ago. One family lost
twins while the other lost an infant.

Somehow
the three ended up being buried together and the incident has raised
some serious questions for Kaiser and for a Sacramento funeral home.

A
representative of Thompson Funeral Home came to Kaiser Hospital on
Morse Avenue to pick up the bodies of premature twins for burial. For
reasons still unexplained, the representative left with three infants
-- the twins and another infant, a member of the Weathers family, who
died at birth.

Kaiser officials could provide no explanation as
to how this happened, but released the following statement:

"We
deeply regret this unfortunate situation and have apologized to both
families during this difficult time. We contacted both families to
resolve the matter as quickly as possible."

The Weathers family now has an attorney.

"The
experience of exhuming another family's grave to find your child has
been like a horror show -- it's been a parent's worst nightmare come
true," attorney Mark Sigala said.

At Thompson Funeral Home,
another mistake -- they somehow prepared three infants for the twins'
burial. Why they did this is unknown.

A mortuary manager declined
to be interviewed by KCRA 3 but said they would investigate. A manager
at another mortuary service called the mistake inexcusable.

The
burial for the twins took place at St. Mary's Cemetery on May 16. That
family and cemetery officials had no idea there was a third body
included.

Cemetery officials said the grave was dug up the
next
day, the remains examined and the missing infant located. The Weathers
infant was returned to the family for burial in Santa Clara.

A
spokesperson for the state Department of Health Services, which
regulates hospitals, told KCRA 3 Tuesday afternoon that it will
investigate the incident and ask Kaiser for a full explanation.

Meantime,
the Department of Consumer Affairs, which regulates funeral homes, said
if the Weathers family files a complaint, it will investigate as well.